Roses, Violets and Fanged Geranium
by EmeraldxLady
Summary: Alice Bennett and Neville Longbottom are the best of friends. However, when things come that deal with protecting Hogwarts, teenage hormones, rivalries and unspoken feelings. This roller coaster for these close friends could either bring them closer or tear them apart. Rated T for Language Neville/OC


**I am not overly happy with this Chapter but it will do... I hope you like it and I hope you can understand the MASSIVE changes I must make in order for this story to work.**

**My Grammar is shitty on this chapter :( I am not feeling too well so I apologize :'( next chapter will be better. (I hope)**

**I made some changes so everything ran a little more smoothly.**

**I own nothing but Alice Bennett.**

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**[London, England]**

Lady Cecile Bennett, a wealthy widow of noble stepped into the local London orphanage, she wore sparkling robes of black and deep purple as she stepped through the door, her hat was tall and adorn with lovely feathers, and she was poised with a sense of regal elegance and social elite. A beautiful woman with dark hair and bright silvery eyes, her face was as if it were sculpted out of marble, a goddess of mysterious beauty. She looked around with her sharp eyes, her face stony and cold as she looked in the dismal and dark foyer. She wrinkled her nose at the pungent smell that filled the room, this was a poorly kept orphanage, everything about this place, poorly kept, it smelled and it was dark, and nothing about this place was child friendly at all.

"By Jove…" she whispered to herself as she stepped further into the foyer. She pulled out a silk handkerchief and put it to her nose to block the smell.

"Oh madam!" a voice called to her, as a old woman in dirty faded grey robes, her grey hair in a less than fashionable bun, her smile showed off her crooked teeth, she was a rather haggard old woman.

"Welcome to Melinda's Orphanage, how can I be of service?" she introduced cheerily with a little bit of spittle that made Lady Bennett feel very disgusted. She was not so sure if she wanted to adopt a child from this place.

"I am here to adopt a child, a girl actually, preferably young so I can raise her as my own."

Melinda smiled as she rubbed her hands together, "you're in luck madam, many of my children have been taken, most of them boys, just last night I happened to discover a baby on my door step, rather cliché actually but…it's been a very long time since I had a baby this young."

Lady Bennett was utterly repulsed, an infant in this dump?

"Bring her here," she ordered, the old woman nodded and scurried off into the dark, Lady Bennett could not wait to get out of this dump, she had prepared for months with thoughts of having a child, with her husband recently dying, and the home she lived in was a lonely, lifeless place. Lady Bennett always wanted a child; a daughter preferably, while her dead husband wanted a son, Lady Bennett never voiced these desires to him, because she knew he would make a huge deal out of it. Her husband was an older and wealthy wizard, lonely and grumpy he died of pneumonia because he refused medicine.

_Stubborn fool…but I still love you… _she thought to herself as she heard the scuffling of feet, as the old woman returned, a dirty bundle in her arms. She smiled eagerly at the finely dressed woman,

"This is she… the little lady placed out here just last night…frankly; she is a loverly one"

The hag offered the bundle to Lady Bennett, gently the elegant woman lifted the bundle from the woman's arms and casted her silvery gaze upon the infant's face.

Indeed…this woman was correct. This child was hardly a few days only and she was already taking on her lovely features. Asleep in her bundle, the baby looked healthy and taken care of; the little one yawned and rubbed its face with her tiny hands. Dark tuffs of hair grew out of her head, her eyes opened slightly to reveal the developing blue irises, finally opening her eyes; the baby girl stared up at the new face with new curiosity.

Lady Bennett was charmed and love bubbled up from her heart for the new life she held in her arms. Lady Bennett handed the old woman a small bag of golden galleons as a donation to the orphanage.

"I will take her, and use this money to…renovate this place." She turned, her purple robes swished elegantly across the creaking hardwood floor as she stepped out of the building, babe in arms as they entered the foggy night. On the cobblestone road awaited a black car with the driver in a sharp suit, he opened the door for her as she stepped in, cradling her new child, on the lush, leather seats, she smiled lovingly down at the new infant. The driver stepped into the driver's seat, looking in the rear view mirror,

"Homeward, Mistress?" he asked in a formal tone, Lady Bennett looked up from the sweet face and nodded.

"Yes Arnold, Homeward."

The driver startled the engine, pressed a certain button to make the car invisible, before the car took off from the ground and into the sky. Lady Bennett smiled down at the little girl who slept peacefully in her arms.

"Alice…Alice Marie Bennett…" she whispered softly, the child squirmed but the name stuck without protest.

* * *

**[Sixteen Years Later]**

Alice dozed peacefully in the grass; she could hear and feel the gentle, warm kisses of the summer breeze that blew through the emerald leaves of her favorite maple tree. In the distance she could hear the faint splashing of water.

"Alice, wake up!"

Alice jolted awake; the book that was resting in her lap flew off to the side, blinking a few times before she looked in the direction of the voice.

Neville Longbottom was knee deep in a lake, his khaki colored trousers were rolled up at the knee but were already soaked from his splashing around, and he rolled up his button up shirt to his elbows and was wiping his wet hands on his red and yellow jumper. He was holding something in his hands

Alice's hand hovered over her eyes and squinted against the sun rays that fractured against the water "Nev, what in heaven's name are you looking for, you have pretty much discovered every species of plant in there!"

Neville looked up from his clasped hands and smiled triumphantly "I caught a frog!"

Alice smiled at his adorable antics, Neville practically spent every summer over at her house and they explored the property together. Alice and Neville met on the first day of their first year at Hogwarts and ever since then they were best friends.

Standing up from her dozing spot and brushed the grass and dirt from her robin eggs blue summer dress before she walked to the edge of the lake, she pushed her black hair back and leaned forward to look at the tiny opening Neville had made with his hands, indeed a tiny frog looked back, to Alice, he seemed rather cross.

"Aww isn't he cute!" She cooed, looking up at Neville with a delighted grin "though I think he would much rather prefer the lake than your hand."

Neville sighed rather dramatically and put the frog back in the water, he watched it swim away quickly away before he jumped back onto the shore.

"We should probably head back if you don't want your mum is cross with us," he smiled as he sat down on the grass and began to pull own his socks that were placed in his shoes neatly.

Alice walked back to her tree and picked up her book and put on her white sandals before she looked back at Neville. She would never tell anyone this but Alice loved that boy with all of her heart, she loved his shy nature, his passion for plants, his light brown hair and sweet green-brown eyes. Alice believed with her entire being that Neville showed more courage and maturity than Harry Potter, she never saw the fascination with him. Alice had watched Neville grow each year in confidence and strength and Alice realized how her crush for him grew with it.

Harry was arrogant and had this idea to prove everyone wrong, not Neville though. Alice knew him better than anyone at Hogwarts and she stood by his side all through the school years, she even joined Dumbledore's Army not for Harry Potter even though his cause was quite was justifiable but to help protect her school and fight beside Neville and through that, she had seen how strong of a fighter he was. Alice sometimes wished she was there with him at the ministry when fighting the death eaters.

Voldemort was a growing threat to her lively hood, though the Bennett family wasn't exactly harmful or threatening to the world, she could see the shadow coming closer to her beloved home. Her mother, a brave woman, had managed to keep certain neutrality to this mess all these years to protect the home and the people who reside there.

Neville stood up after he rolled down the leggings of his trousers, he groaned at half of his calf was soaking.

"Gran is not going to like this, she ironed this herself!"

Alice laughed and grabbed his bicep "come on Nev, we got to get going!"

She tried not to notice the certain strength in his arms as they walked away from the glittering lake, from over the edge of the trees she could see the roof of her home, Alice never liked to talk about the wealth she grew up with, her mother trained her to value all people and species even down to the pesky garden gnomes she used to help get rid of as a child. Yes, twirling them around in the air and throwing them as far as you could was absolutely hysterical when a child is eight years old.

Neville finally managed to get a hold of his footing and walked along side her at the same pace, the journeyed across the grass that the gardener had recently mowed down, he had the easy job, with a wave of a wand he could kick back on a lawn chair and read the daily prophet while the muggle lawn mower putted across the grass, a rake flowing behind to clean up the excess loose grass.

"Do you think Herbology this year will involve something a little more exciting?" he asked as they walked up the stone steps to the patio where a garden table and matching cushioned chairs with the umbrella for shade. Afternoon tea consisted of iced tea with some sort of cold sandwich and pastries.

"Probably more biting or spitting plants I presume, but aren't you going to become an Auror?" Alice asked as she sat down, Neville sat down next to her.

"Of course, but it doesn't mean I can't look forward to both, I mean I can fight off a wizard who might just unleash a invasion of poisonous plants!" he proclaimed excitedly

Alice couldn't stop the powerful thump in her heart as she watched his excited smile light up his whole face, she exhaled silently through her nose as she tried not to blush in front of him, and then again, Neville was quite oblivious to this sort of thing and still had a hard time voicing his true emotions and opinions.

"You would win Nev, because you would know everything about the plant by heart unless it was a mutation from space, like the Venus flytrap."

Neville looked thoughtful for a moment "_Dionaea muscipula _is a carnivorous plant, native to the subtropics of the East coast in the United States, no magical properties besides eating bugs,"

Alice lifted her hands "I know what it is, you named the one in my mum's green house Juliette" she laughed at the memory

Neville looked appalled and shook his head "you asked if we should name it Juliette and we agreed, that was our fourth year!"

"Children," a stern voice ended the argument, the woman with graying dark hair stood at the table with pale green summer robes, he silvery eyes glowed with amusement at the bickering two at the table. "What are my rules?" she asked, placing a cupped hand to her ear, to pretend she couldn't hear.

Alice and Neville looked at each other before reciting in unison "No arguments, bickering or discussion of politics unless absolutely necessary."

The woman shook her head "Alice my dear, you of all people should know this."

"Yes Mummy…" Alice looked suddenly bashful, Neville had reached over and gripped her hand gently before quickly letting go, Alice's heart jumped to her throat and she had to swallow it down before it came out, the warmth of his hand still lingered.

Lady Bennett sat down and with a wave of her wand, the crystal pitcher began to serve the ice tea and the sandwiches placed themselves on their pristine white plates.

"Mummy, does Lady Highcatcher still complain about your lack of china ware?" Alice asked, Neville looked confused and Alice mouthed 'tell you later'

"Of course, though she complains about my lack of anything absurdly fancy, she should know by now how I like my things simple yet authentic, if I wanted to get China, I would just go to Covent Garden."

Neville had grown used to Lady Bennett and Alice's conversation about the other elite, he generally ignored that sort of conversation and focused on the light meal, the ice tea was a good choice on this warm day, the shade was also starting to cool him off, from the corner of his eye he looked at Alice. Sitting with correct posture and poise like any lady, she spoke with such elegance that it was hard sometimes to recognize his witty, playful and sometimes sarcastic best friend. Alice out of all of his friends at Hogwarts was by far the closest, not to mention he couldn't complain about the looks of disdain on his friends faces for having such a beautiful friend, he generally didn't like to think that but they constantly teased him and his interests in a friendly manner but it had gotten annoying over the years.

Alice shared similar features to Harry, her hair was darker and more of a grass green color to her eyes than emerald and much more pale. She always smiled and made jokes. They had their differences but she was respectful and would always listen, Neville would never ask for anyone better than she.

"So Neville how is your grandmother?" Lady Bennett asked, Neville tore himself away from his thoughts and smiled politely,

"She is better ma'am, but I think she is happy I am here than in London."

Lady Bennett agreed with a nod "she sent me a letter asking if you would accompany us to get your books and supplies for this year at school, apparently her back is going bad again."

With Neville suddenly looked concerned, Alice placed a hand on his shoulder "She'll be alright Nev; you know how stubborn she is."

Lady Bennett chuckled "I admire that woman; she always manages to pull through"

Neville nodded "I'll write to gran to night, to thank her and to send me my list."

Alice frowned "but you have all your classes with me most of the time,"

"Professor Sprout gives me extra supplies because I attend to the green houses on my own free time." He gave her a smile

"Ah, forgot about that," Alice blushed slightly, shaking her head to herself

Lady Bennett was finishing up her iced tea "then it's settled, we will leave as soon as you get your list."

* * *

**[Diagon Alley]**

Lady Bennett was talking with a friend as they walked through the crowded rooms of Diagon Alley's Flourish and Blotts book store, Neville and Alice were pressed close together to stay close and had to keep looking at the list. They had to ignore a bunch of first year students that weaseled their way rather violently passed them.

"Well, we need the sixth years edition of Transfiguration, Dark Arts and Astronomy, I sure feel lucky that we have potions together." Alice looked up at Neville, he was looking rather pale

"The one teacher I don't look forward to seeing is Professor S-Snape," he whimpered softly, he hunched over slightly

Alice gave him a gentle look of reassurance as she rubbed his upper back in soft strokes "don't worry Nev, I will be right beside you, he's just a harmless bully to everyone, even me."

Neville hated it when Snap bullied him but he hated it most when Snape picked on her, he couldn't explain it but it really made him angry if anyone made a bad pass towards Alice.

Since Neville was rather tall, he helped Alice get the books that were on the higher shelf, since she was only five feet seven inches. When they finished gathering their books, they met up with Lady Bennett whom ended her conversation briefly.

"All we need to do is go to Slug & Jiggers to get our potion supplies…then, can we go to Weasleys' Wizard's Wheezes?"

Lady Bennett nodded "That will give me time to go to Madam Primpernelle's and Rosa Lee"

Alice and Neville looked at each other "But mummy, you don't need to go to Madam Primpernelle's,"

Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions was a beauty store and Alice didn't feel like her mother needed, though she was aging, she aged like fine wine.

Lady Bennett leaned in with a sly grin and whispered "it's not for me; it's for your Aunt Judith" she winked and Alice and Neville couldn't help but snicker a little, Aunt Judith thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, not even fine make up, jewelry and clothes could hide the sagging neck, cheeks and her outrageous ability to sweat.

After getting their books, Neville and Alice left Flourish and Blotts to Slug & Jiggers which smelled of dried plants and rather strong rose perfume, they were surprised to have run into the people Neville was looking forward to run into.

"Hey Harry!" Neville called out excitedly, Alice tried not to sigh irritably; she was never a fan of Harry Potter or his friends.

A dark haired boy turned around, ignoring the bickering bushy haired girl and the red head, his brilliant green eyes looked at the two and smiled in a genuine friendliness "Oh Hello Neville, Alice"

Alice waved politely, she kept her manners about herself whenever she was around the "Golden Trio", Neville admired and strives to be brave like Harry; Alice always wanted to tell him that he didn't need them to find his own courage.

"Hey Nev, I am going to get our stuff, be back alright?" she barely cast a glance at Harry before she left Neville's side.

Harry and Neville watched her leave before Neville began to say something but Harry interrupted,

"Hey Neville…does she not like me?" he asked in a hissed tone "We are all in the same house together and she looks like she despises me."

Neville looked over his shoulder, Alice was gathering a root of some sort but he couldn't see the label on the jar, "To tell you the truth Harry, you have never been her favorite but she respects you but you don't need to have the favor of everyone" He said rather defensively, which surprised himself but then again, he would do anything to defend Alice.

Harry looked surprised as well but he sighed "It's just… I kind of like her, I mean, I have always wanted to get to know her I guess"

he nodded "I know if you get on her good side she is a very good friend, I practically spend every summer with her at her house."

Harry had a strange look creep over his face "did you two grow up together?"

"Almost, we met on the first day of classes first year" Neville smiled at the memory, they happened to be sitting next to each other and she turned and extended her hand to him and introduced herself. Neville was always a shy boy and had a hard time making friends; he was delighted to meet Alice.

"Nev!" Alice called excitedly "I found dried Fanged Geranium" she help up a jar of dried what looked like leaves, "Goodness gracious look at the price though!"

Harry raised an eyebrow "Herbology fan?"

Neville shrugged "Yes and no, not a particular huge fan of the fanged geranium because it bit her last year"

Harry cleared his throat and turned to see that Ron and Hermione were already in line to pay for their things, Harry looked back at Neville.

"Are you going to the Weasleys joke shop?" Neville asked

Harry nodded "yeah, why?"

Alice was returning when Neville replied "we were about to head over there too after we finish getting our things here."

Harry glanced at Alice but she was ignoring him by finishing putting the rest of the ingredients she gathered into her basket,

"We'll see you there then," Harry waved ad joined his friends

Alice sighed heavily "Ready to go, this place is giving me a headache"

Neville took her basket like a gentleman "after you,"

Smiling cheekily, Alice crossed her arms "Oh your grandmother would be proud" she teased

He looked suddenly sad "I hope so…" he gave her a small smile

Alice knew that Augusta Longbottom wasn't exactly proud of his magical abilities and Alice recalled on one of her rants about how wonderful Harry Potter was, sure he wasn't jaw dropping astounding to everyone else, but to Alice, he was perfect.

"Neville…" she took his arm gently and rested her head against his shoulder "you are perfect to me, you know that right?"

Neville was glad that she couldn't see his growing blush "Y-yeah…I do" he swallowed a hard lump in his throat but he also couldn't help but let a silly grin touch his face.

* * *

Alice was looking at the love potions, a large gaggle of girls were debating on wither or not they should by one or many. Alice picked up one of the heart shaped vials and sighed, as much she would have loved to use this, it would've hurt Neville.

Putting the vial back she walked over to Neville whom was purposefully avoiding the canary creams, Alice was there and certainly gave the Weasley twins a piece of her mind even though he was a giant canary for about a minute. In the end they were laughing while she chased them about with a string of curses that would have gotten her detention.

"See anything you like?" Alice asked, Neville shook his head "Nope but I think we should leave soon."

Alice nodded but secretly she had bought him something she knew he would like, an Aviatomobile, a small flaying car toy. Feeling rather good with her choice, she almost skipped out of the shop; she couldn't wait to give this to him.

"Surprise!" she cheer as she handed him the packaged car toy, Neville looked surprised then delighted as he took his present from her hands,

"Alice…I…" he continued to look down at the toy car

"No need to thank me," Alice smiled "it's a fun toy we can play together" almost blushing a little bit, she looked around for any sight of her mother.

"Thank you Alice…" Neville smiled happily "this is…this is brilliant!"

Alice felt a wave of happiness flood through her as she watched the glee on his face as the car zoomed around his head; there was no need for love potions because this moment was truly something that nothing artificial could produce.

* * *

**[Platform 9 ¾ ]**

The train soon left after teary good bye and trying to stuff the last bit of luggage into the train compartments, Alice placed her carry on by her feet before she sat down, placing her cat Ophelia in her lap, a slender cat with a silver coat with big black spots whom immediately took her opportunity for a nap. Luna Lovegood was reading the quibbler with big, swirling paper glasses when Harry joined them, Alice wanted to groan but she kept her mouth shit when Neville greeted him enthusiastically.

"Hey Harry, how was the rest of your summer?"

Harry looked at Neville just as he sat down "it was alright I guess, you?"

Neville showed off the flying car that Alice gave him; Alice ignored Harry by asking Luna is she could have a Quibbler, Luna eagerly offered it to her and Alice began to read in attempts to ignore the world around her, some of the articles were interesting since she tended to ignore the ones that were all about Harry Potter.

"Hey Luna, why are you wearing those" Alice asked, Luna looked at her with her dreamy stare thought Alice couldn't see behind the glasses.

"To see Wrackspurts, they float around your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. Oh, there are a lot in your ears by the way so there is a pair in your Quibbler."

Most would politely refuse but Alice accepted, she searched through the pages, once she found them and tried them on, her world was suddenly turned upside down and Alice was patting Neville's shoulder to get his attention.

"Nev, have you tried these?" Luna was giggling at Alice's antics, To Harry both Luna and Alice looked like multicolored, demented owls.

"Not really, are they cool?" Neville took the glasses from her face and tried them on, Alice let her eyes adjust to the sudden change.

"You could have at least asked to use them," Alice rubbed her aching eyes before moving her hands, when she opened her eyes, she happened to be staring at Harry. Scowling, she turned her attention to Neville who was watching his flying car with her weirdly awesome Spectrespecs. Apparently Treavor had gone missing and Alice was trying to help Neville as best as she could without moving and suffering her cats fury of interrupted nap time.

Alice was taking her glasses back when a group of girls attracted her attention, they were younger and were arguing among themselves, though the compartment door was closed, she could tell that they were pointing at Harry.

"I think your fan club has arrived," Alice warned sarcastically as the compartment door opened, a girl about fourteen with curly dark brown hair, large dark eyes and a prominent chin, a pretty girl. She was smiling rather confidently at Harry, to her stance was an air of self assurance and over confidence that Alice couldn't help but feel a little bit irritated.

"Hi, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane" she said loudly and confidently, Alice and Neville looked at each other with odd glances but continued to watch.

"Why don't you join us in our compartment? You don't have to sit with _them._" She added in a stage whisper as her eyes flicked to Luna and Neville; Alice was giving her rather nasty glare when the girl's eyes landed on her.

"They're my friends" said Harry coldly.

"Oh," said Romilda, looking very surprised "Oh. Okay."

And she withdrew, sliding the door closed behind her.

There was a moment of silence before Alice stood up, her cat hissed rather angrily as it found another spot next to Harry. Flipping her hair back, taking on an exaggerated stance of confidence, and in a fake husky voice she spoke

"Hello…I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane" she flipped her hair back again and pursed her lips into a kissy face, causing everyone in the compartment to laugh a little but before she sat back down.

"Really? Come one, I know I can do better than that," Alice shook her head as Neville looked under the seat and pulled out Trevor with dust bunnies in his curly brown hair.

"People expect you to have cooler friends than us" said Luna, Alice rolled her eyes as she leaned back against her seat with poor posture and her arms crossed.

"He's Harry Potter Luna; you can only expect the best from him" she waved her hand in the air "that also includes his social group"

"Oui!" Harry shouted "I am not the one making these assumptions, alright?"

Neville scowled at Harry as he held onto Trevor tightly "Hey, don't shout at her!"

"Boys, stop shouting your pissing me off!" Alice snapped angrily, Neville and Harry were silent as Alice straightened into a perfect sitting posture.

"Look," Alice began "I am rather sorry for what I said, now can we stop, please?"

Neville nodded but Harry continued his glare as Alice stood up and brushed the lint from her jeans "I am going to go change; I suggest you do the same."

Alice left the compartment, Ophelia managed to follow her out and the three friends sat in silence for a moment before Harry looked at Neville.

"Is she always like that?" Harry asked

Neville placed Trevor in his cage, he looked at harry rather somberly "no, just only when she's mad" he left the compartment and went to go change into his robes.

* * *

Alice felt terrible, she had been a total bitch to Harry and now Neville was refusing to talk about it, Alice sat in the carriage rather awkwardly before she couldn't take it anymore, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"I'm really sorry Nev…" she whispered into the crook of his neck, she realized that he smelled of the fruity candy he had on the train.

Neville ignored the curious eyes and sighed with a small smile "Alice, its okay…" he patted her back "but your hair is tickling my nose"

Alice pulled away with a laugh "Oh sorry, didn't mean for that to happen" placing her slender fingers on her pale pink mouth.

Neville and Alice began to talk about what they expect from this year as they drew closer to the entrance of Hogwarts.

* * *

**Read and Review!**

**Yes...Yes...I know her name is the same as Alice Longbottom but all your questions will be answered in time... **


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